This proposal is to establish a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) on NEURAL MECHANISMS OF ADAPTIVE BEHAVIOR at the USD. It is well-recognized that both human and animal subjects can modify their behavior in response to environmental situations. Behavioral modifications in response to the environment are an external manifestation of adaptive mechanisms that take place in neuronal circuits in the brain. The main aim of this proposed COBRE is to understand how structural reorganization in neural pathways results in adaptive behavioral responses to novel sensory-motor experiences. Functional reorganization of neural circuits is fundamental to processes that occur during learning and memory, development, and in the central nervous system's response to stress or injury. The Neuroscience Group at the USD has recently undergone significant expansion and has a strong mix of junior and senior faculty members whose main intellectual thrust will be aimed at understanding brain mechanisms that underlie behavioral adaptation. This COBRE will have five major research projects that address the problem of sensorimotor adaptation. Dr. Keifer will study synaptic mechanisms underlying in vitro classical conditioning. Drs. Christie and Clark will examine molecular mechanisms of enhanced learning and memory performance with increased neurogenesis. Drs. Coles and Schlenker will study adaptation of a respiratory pattern generator in response to oxygen deprivation. Drs. Renner and Summers will examine steroid and monamine effects on sex, stress and seizures. Finally, Dr. Morecraft will assess mechanisms underlying focal cranial-cervical dystonia. The main goal of COBRE is to contribute to an understanding of the cellular mechanisms that underlie adaptive behavior and to develop a comprehensive theory that accounts for changes occurring at the cellular level with adaptive motor responses. The approach to the problem will be multi-disciplinary, employing physiological, pharmacological, anatomical, molecular and behavioral experimental approaches.
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